IllustrationAir Bag light stays on and cannot pass stare inspection without repair. NHSTA site has 54 reports of this issue and dealer cannot figure out how to repair. What can be done?
2005 Hyundai Sonata
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Similar to other model years
Owner complaints for the 2005 Hyundai Sonata do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 161.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Sonata years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
180–25K
2125–50K
2050–75K
2075–100K
34100–150K
15150K+
128 reports with mileage · 37 unknown
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Air Bags. Review the 55 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Structure. Review the 30 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Suspension. Review the 26 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
26 crash reports2 fire reports19 injury reports
Air Bags complaints
55 reportsTHE AIR BAG LIGHT IS ON AND IT WON'T GO OFF. THIS IS ALL THE TIME WHEN THE CAR IS STATIONARY, OR MOVING. WHEN YOU TURN THE CAR ON AND OFF, IT'S STILL ON.
AIRBAG LIGHT STAYS ON. I HAVE TAKEN IT BACK TO DEALER SEVERAL TIMES AND HAS NOT BEEN FIX CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY.
HAVING A CONSTANT MALFUNCTION WITH THE AIRBAG SENSOR AFTER HAVING REPAIR AT LEAST 2 TO 3 DIFFERENT TIME OF HAVING THE CAR. THE AIRBAG LIGHT STILL COMES ON .
THE AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON. NOBODY SEEMS TO KNOW HOW TO FIX IT. THE MORE I LOOK AROUND I SEE THIS IS A VERY COMMON ISSUE WITH THIS VEHICLE. JUST THIS SITE ALONE HAD 50 COMPLAINTS ON THE AIRBAG ALONE.
TAKATA INFLATOR MY CAR HAS THE AIR BAG LIGHT ON.
BRAKES LOCKED UP WHILE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY CAUSING A BAD ACCIDENT AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY WHOLE FRONT END SMASHED IN HOOD ALMOST IN THE WINDSHEILD.
TAKATA RECALL
AIR BAG DASH LIGHT IS ON FOR SEEMINGLY NO REASON. IT USED TO BE INTERMITTENT, BUT IT EVENTUALLY STAYED ON. MECHANICS AND HYUNDAI DEALERSHIP HAVE NO ANSWERS. IT COMES ON AS SOON AS I START THE CAR AND DOESN'T TURN OFF UNTIL THE CAR IS OFF. I WAS TOLD MY AIRBAGS WILL NOT DEPLOY IN AN ACCIDENT. HOW DELIGHTFUL. *TR
TL* TAKATA RECALL. THE CONTACT OWNED A 2005 HYUNDAI SONATA. THE CONTACT WAS INVOLVED IN A FENDER BENDER WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 10 MPH. THE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED AND RELEASED A LOT OF TINY METAL CRYSTALS. A POLICE REPORT WAS NOT FILED AND THERE WERE NO INJURIES. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A NEARBY DEALER AND DEEMED DESTROYED. THE …
Read full complaint
TL* TAKATA RECALL. THE CONTACT OWNED A 2005 HYUNDAI SONATA. THE CONTACT WAS INVOLVED IN A FENDER BENDER WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 10 MPH. THE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED AND RELEASED A LOT OF TINY METAL CRYSTALS. A POLICE REPORT WAS NOT FILED AND THERE WERE NO INJURIES. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A NEARBY DEALER AND DEEMED DESTROYED. THE VIN WAS UNKNOWN. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 120,000.
Official recalls
109V280000 · Exterior Lighting
Jul 21, 2009
HYUNDAI IS RECALLING 3,011 MODEL YEAR 2005-2007 ELANTRA, TUCSON, SONATA, AZERA AND ACCENT VEHICLES. A MALFUNCTIONING STOP LAMP SWITCH MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO FAIL TO ILLUMINATE WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED OR MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO REMAIN ILLUMINATED WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS RELEASED. A DEFECTIVE STOP LAMP SWITCH MAY ALSO AFFECT THE OPERATION OF THE BRAKE-TRANSMISSION SHIFT INTERLOCK FEATURE SO THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BE SHIFT OUT OF THE "PARK" POSITION. IT MAY ALSO CAUSE THE ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) MALFUNCTION LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE, AND IT MAY NOT DEACTIVATE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: ANY OF THESE MALFUNCTIONS COULD LEAD TO A CRASH.
Remedy: DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE STOP LAMP SWITCH FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 2, 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HYUNDAI OF PUERTO RICO CUSTOMER SERVICE AT 1-787-999-4310.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.